February 13, 2013 AT 4:43 pm

Rock and roll. Baseball. President Obama. These are very uniquely American things, made possible by the diverse cultures, backgrounds, and talents that have helped shape our country. American innovation is also a product of a diverse American culture. I’d like to celebrate the diversity that drives innovation by recognizing black makers throughout the month of February. Black History Month is devoted to celebrating part of our culture. Let’s not forget the history of black makers like Elijah McCoy. Why stop with the past though? Let’s also profile modern black makers who are changing lives. As we inspire more kids from more diverse backgrounds to become makers, we will strengthen innovation and increase success in arts and STEM fields.

What is “Ask an engineer”? From the electronics enthusiast to the professional community – “Ask an Engineer” has a little bit of everything for everyone. If you’re a beginner, or a seasoned engineer – stop in and see what we’re up to! We have demos of projects and products we’re working on, we answer your engineering and electronics questions and we have a trivia question + give away each week. Previous chats can be viewed at http://www.adafruit.com/ask

I’m Kipp Bradford. I teach engineering at Brown University. I’m also the founder and president of open-source hardware manufacturer kippkitts. I’m on the Technical Advisory Board of Make Magazine. My goal in life is to Make Makers. Why? That’s a great question. I believe that people who are Makers see the world’s problems as opportunities to create a new innovation. Makers are the engines of our economy and sources of inspiration forSTEAM education. Am I succeeding? Well, that’s hard to tell. There is certainly a lot more work to be done. Progress is being made though, and the movement is gaining momentum in schools and businesses. So I will continue to Make Makers and showcase some of the incredible Makers that I’ve come across in my life!

And don’t forget, 30 minutes before the show we’re doing our weekly show-and-tell. If you are on Google+ and want to join, just add/follow +Adafruit’s page and post a comment so you can be added to the show and tell circle. At 9:30pm ET you will see a link to the hang out. Just keep your mics muted until we call on you and have your project ready.

For those who just want to watch, you’ll be able to watch it live on Ustream here and we usually have a recorded version posted later.